In the Roman Republic, the paedagogus, plural paedagogi or paedagogiani, was a slave or a freedman who taught the sons of Roman citizens the Greek language.[1] In the period of the Roman Empire, the paedagogus became the director of the paedagogium.[1]
There were no public schools in the early Roman Republic so boys were taught to read and write by their parents or by educated paedagogi, usually of Greek origin.[2] [3] [4]
A representation of a paedagogus was painted as a graffito on the walls of the paedagogium of the Palatine, and it represents his social and cultural formation, which is identified such a slave.
An inscription of the second century dedicated to the Roman emperor Caracalla lists twenty-four paedagogi. In some cases, the title of paedagogus is connected with private elite families.[5] [6] [7] [8]
Being a paedagogus meant obeying conduct and duty laws.
In the imperial institution, the title of paedagogus refers to the duty of child-attendant or tutor rather than a teacher. The other title of paedagogus refers to a variety of interrelated capacities related to the offspring of the imperial family and aristocracy: disciplina (academic and moral instruction), custodia (companion and protector) and decorum (directives of precepts for public behaviour). There is a third title which appears in three inscriptions and means the director of the paedagogium (praeceptor).